Promoter: Bigfoot body 'not a real body'

In what will come as a surprise to no one, the man promoting a "Bigfoot body" on tour across the United States has admitted that the exhibit is a fake.

The sideshow-like display featuring an alleged Bigfoot body was supposed to begin in Arizona in February.

The specimen came from Rick Dyer, a self-proclaimed "Bigfoot Tracker" whose website says, "I tracked a creature. I shot it. With tears in my eyes, I watched it take its last breath," Dyer said that was in 2012.

But on day one of the proposed tour, it was canceled because no venue would allow the display. Even the International UFO Congress, which held a five-day conference in Scottsdale, turned the body away.

"He's a known hoaxer," said conference organizer Maureen Elsberry. "We are a reputable conference and we did not want to be associated with that."

Dyer hired promoter Andrew Clacy to book stops on the "I Told You So" tour. Clacy told CBS 5 News that the body has undergone DNA testing, MRI scans, an autopsy and more scientific testing in the last year. However, results from those tests never became available.

Clacy now says Dyer tricked him. "During my time in the United States working for Mr. Dyer my suspicions in relation to authenticity of the body started to develop," Clacy wrote in an email to CBS 5 News on Sunday.

Dyer had already admitted to being the man behind one of the biggest Bigfoot hoaxes of all time. In 2008 he was involved in a scheme to sell another alleged bigfoot body to the highest bidder. The story got national attention and Dyer went into hiding for months.

Clacy continued, "I confronted MR. Dyer (in Daytona) on my suspicions, who admitted to me personally that the body of 'Hank' was not a real body but rather a construct of a company from Washington State which was paid for by Rick Dyer. Once I became [aware of] the truth I could not longer continue in my role with Rick Dyer on moral and ethical grounds."

Clacy previously had insisted insist the body was not a hoax. "I spent hours looking at the specimen and it's real," Clacy said in a Youtube video. "I've touched it, its skin. It's not a joke."

"Science is not done by promotional tours," Shermer said. "Why hasn't he submitted the body for scientists to analyze? The answer is obvious: it's a fake. If he has nothing to hide then let him show it to the professionals first before taking his victory lap."

Clacy told CBS 5 News, "Mr. Dyer needed me to believe the body was real so I would contact the media and help make him money, which I did."

Clacy now said he hopes to restore his reputation as a marketing professional in Australia, and will cooperate with any authorities that wish to pursue charges. However, an investigation is not likely. It's Bigfoot, after all.